California Coast

We headed for Eureka, CA via Highways 1 and 101. Hwy 1 runs along the coast line; a beautiful drive with lots of pull-offs. The road was through mountainous terrain. A very narrow and windey road. Lots of hairpin turns. Around Phillipsburg we got off 101 and drove the Avenue of the Giants which took us through several huge redwood groves. Again, there were a lot of picnic areas & pull-offs. We got to Eureka in early afternoon. Went grocery shopping then headed to our camping destination, the Samoa Boat Ramp Campground owned by Humboldt County. This was without doubt, the dirtiest campground we’ve ever seen. Quite a surprise for a County owned facility. We left. Stopped by the “world famous” Samoa Cookhouse. This restaurant has been serving food “lumberjack” style since 1893. “Lumberjack” style means a shared table with food brought out in bowls to be passed around. Much like in Pennsylvania Dutch Country. Tonight’s menu was ham & fried chicken; neither of which Carol wanted so we passed on dinner out tonight. Continued north to the Clam Beach County Park not far north of Eureka. Again a Humboldt County Park. What a pleasant difference. Looks like a campground should. The “campground” is basically a parking lot but it’s right on the dune line. It’s very windy out today. The ocean is rough. Gopher & I took some good beach walks. Since we mostly had the place to ourselves, I took her leash off. It was too cold outside for Carol so she read and looked at the ocean through the windows. Perhaps tomorrow we can find a more sheltered place and Carol can join our walk.

On Monday we continued north on Highway 101 to the Redwood National Park and three California State Parks located between Trinidad and Crescent City. It was cool & foggy when we started our day. First stopped at the Kuchel Visitor Center to inquire about accessible trails. The ranger was very helpful. Our first stop was the Big Tree Wayside. There was a short trail leading to Big Tree; a giant redwood tree. After that we went to the Prairie Creek Visitor Center where there were more accessible trails through the redwood forest. One of these trails was especially nice because it had informative signs along the trail. We continued on and got gas at the Indian Reservation in Klamath. We paid the most we have ever paid for gas. $4.0599/gallon. Off Reservation, gas was going for from $4.099 to $4.129. It cost $192 to fill the tank.

Drove to the Klamath River Overlook but it was so foggy all we saw was fog. We were stopped at the Crescent Beach Overlook, once again fogged in, when an old Class A RV pulled in. The engine was running poorly. The driver kept racing the engine faster & faster and eventually the RV caught on fire!! The driver & passenger got out safely. I called 911 then left fearing the gas tank would blow up. It was a very small overlook with no place to get out of the way if there was an explosion. Saw several police cars, an ambulance and fire truck responding to the 911 call.

In Crescent City we filled up with propane, went grocery shopping, got Carol’s prescription filled at Wal-Mart and washed the RV. It was full of bugs. Our next mission is a haircut for both of us. After doing chores, we camped at the Panther Flat Forest Service Campground east of Crescent City.